We’re on day 5 of Growth from A to Z.  Today is :E – Eating (Well)

Nutritious, “clean” food matters.  A lot.  Without the fuel, without the “building blocks” it needs, a body can’t function effectively.  Now, I’m not an absolutist on this.  We live in the real world.  Few people are going to eat “perfect” food all the time.  But we need to eat pretty good food most of the time, or it’s only a matter of time before our bodies refuse to do their jobs.

In order to eat well, we need to address several things:  1) regular meal planning, 2) emergency back-up plans, and 3) knowing how to cook.

Meal Planning

Meal planning is the foundation of healthy eating.  This is not only what makes us prepared for healthy meal preparation in general, but also the point at which we can address roadblocks like allergies, time limitations, etc.  How?  Because if, at this stage, you only choose recipes that fit within the limitations, when meal time rolls around, what’s on the plan is all viable.

https://realplans.com/free-meal-plans/?AFFID256889

• If you want to plan your own, you’ll find my method/instructions here.
• If you want someone else to do the planning for you, you can subscribe to a service, like Real Plans (also shown above, in a fancy-schmancy box WordPress automatically embedded).

The hardest step of menu planning is finding recipes.  This is the only step that requires much thought.  You  can find these by looking through your own favorites and your own cookbooks, of course.  You can also ask friends, check out cookbooks from the library, browse Pinterest or the internet at large, etc.  The Ultimate Homemaking Bundle, coming later this month, is always full of real food recipes.  (There’s a whole kitchen category.)  Of course I have recipes here at Titus 2 Homemaker, too!

Emergency Backup Plans

Many of us do great at our regular meal planning, but quickly get derailed when plans go awry.  Then it’s fast food to the rescue.  If possible, though, you really want to save eating out for when it’s intentional, not as something you just kind of “fall into” (at least for the most part).  The way to manage this is to have backup plans.

What’s a backup meal plan?  It’s a plan — maybe not as healthy as what you’d regularly prefer to eat — for something that can be eaten at the last minute or when circumstances are unusual (like maybe when the power goes out).  I addressed this topic in a post once before.   Basically, what you’re looking for here is a meal or two that’s made from ingredients you can easily keep on hand (“pantry meals” — the ingredients don’t spoil) and that’s pretty quick and simple to make.

There just might be a resource in the Homemaking Bundle that talks about this (wink, wink), and the Thrive Life stuff that I’ve been talking about opens up additional possibilities (by making shelf-stable some ingredient options that aren’t otherwise shelf-stable).  Depending on what your needs are, freezer meals might be an option, too.

Knowing How to Cook

Of course all the meal planning in the world won’t help if you don’t know how to prepare the recipes on the plan!  And unless you’re blessed with the finances to be able to pay for someone else to do all of your cooking, that’s pretty essential.

We have been loving the Kids Cook Real Food e-course.   This is, as it sounds, for kids.  And it’s definitely kid-friendly language, etc.  But adults can learn from it, too, either right alongside your kids, or even on your own.  (Although you might feel less silly about using terminology like “up and over, soldier” if you’re working with children.)  There’s another cooking course I’ve stumbled across that’s meant for adults, Foodist Kitchen.  I’m pretty intrigued by this, but I haven’t had a chance to check out the actual course myself, yet.

If you’d rather read books and practice on your own, I reviewed a number of basic how-to-cook books a couple months ago so you can get a good idea of how they compare:

• Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat
• Techniques of Healthy Cooking
• Cooking at Home: Essential Techniques and Recipes for Creating Great Food
• The Flavor Bible
• The Young Chef, ChopChop, and The Nourishing Traditions Cookbook for Children (kids’ cookbooks)

A lot of people recommend cooking shows on television, too.  I don’t think these are typically a good beginning how-to option, but they can be a fun way to expand your skill set beyond the basics.